Watch movement holder



Oct. 16, 1951 c ACREA 2,571,176

WATCH MOVEMENT HOLDER Filed Feb. 8, 1950 I III/1% Inventor Clarence D-Acrea l2 o E I /4/22/\20P Patentecl Oct. 16,1951

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention comprises novel and useful improvements in vises, and more particularly pertains to a vise for supporting a watch movement.

An important object of this invention is to provide a jewelers vise which will support watch movements of varying sizes and configurations,

adjustable supports.

Another important feature of this invention resides in the provision for segmental arcuate arms which are pivotally attached and selectively lockable relative to each other and to laterally adjustable supports.

An additional feature of this invention resides in the provision for a watch movement retaining flange on the arms, together with watch movement locking projections on the arms cooperat ing with the flange.

These, together with various ancillary objects and features are attained by this device, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated by way of example only in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational View of the jewelers vise.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the jewelers Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the plane 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail view taken on the plane 44 of Figure 3, parts being broken away to show the means for locking the rotatably mounted arms relative to the support.

Figure 5 is a detail View of the watch movement engaging arms shown in their expanded position.

Figure 6 is a detail view of one of the arms.

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional detail view taken on the plane 1-1 of Figure 1, showing the means for selectively locking the arms relative to each other and to the rotatably mounted shaft.

Referring now more specifically to the accompanying drawings wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, it can be seen that there is provided a watch movement holder, indicated generally by the numeral H], which is adaptable to positively engage and support watch movements of various sizes and configurations in such a manner that the watch can be inclined at various angles to facilitate working on the movement.

As will be readily appreciated from a consideration of the accompanying drawings, the watch movement holder H3 consists of a pair of laterally spaced supports l2 which are slidably attached to each other as by the guide bars 14, the guide bars 14 being preferably attached to one of the supports as at i6 and slidabl received in the bores 18 of the other support. An adjusting means for varying. the lateral spacing of the two supports I2 is provided which adjusting means may consist of the screw threaded rod 2!! which is screw threadedly received in a bore 22 in one of the supports l2 and is slidably received in a bore 24 in the other of said supports, a knurled knob 26 being secured to that end of the rod 20 which passes through the bore 24, the knob 26 having a shoulder thereon which engages the support [2 so as to draw the supports together when the knob is rotated. It is believed apparent that various other means could be provided for adjusting the lateral spacing of the supports I 2 without departing from the spirit of this invention.

Rotatably attached to the supports l2 as by the journals 28 are shafts 30, one end of which shaft has a flange 32 which retains a sleeve 34 thereon, the other end of the shaft being crew threaded as at 36 to receive the adjusting bolt 38 thereon. Attached to the sleeve 34 are watch movement engaging arms 40 and 42. .In order that the arms 40 and 42 Will be adaptable to engage a larger variety of configurations and sizes of watch movements, the arms are preferably pivotally attached to each other and to the sleeve 34 by means of a screw 44 or the like, any means such as a spring 46 being provided to yieldingly urge the arms into engagement with a watch movement. It is believed readily apparent from a consideration of Figure '7 that the thumb screw 44 can also be utilized to lock the arms 40 and 42 together and to the sleeve 34 so as to prevent the arms from spreading after a watch movement has been placed therein.

In order that the arms 40 and 42 will not mar or damage a watch movement which is engaged thereby, the arms may be formed of arcuate segments which have retaining flanges 48 attached thereto. Cooperating with the flange 48, to selectively lock the watch movement therebetween, are projections 50, which projections may conveniently consist of thumb screws or the like which have a shouldered portion 52 thereon, which shoulder portion obviously positively engages a watch movement to retain it against the flange 48.

In operation, it is merely necessary to place a watch movement between the arms 40 and 42 on both standards, and then adjust the spacing of the standards so that the arms will embrace the sides-of the watch movement. The arms 40 and 42 may then be locked together by means of a thumb screw 44, and the Watch movement further locked to the arms by means of the thumb screws 50. The inclination of the watch movement can then be set by adjusting the locking nuts 38 so as to prevent further rotation of the watch movement about the shaft 30.

From the foregoing it is believed that the operation and construction of the device will be readily understood, and further discussion is therefore believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specification and accompanying drawings, it is not desired to limit the invention to that shown and described, but all suitable modifications may be resorted to falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A watch movement holder comprising spaced supports, means adjustably attaching said supports to each other to vary the lateral spacing thereof, attaching means rotatably journaled in said supports, oppositely extending watch engaging arms, means mounting said watch engaging arms on said attaching means for pivotal movement about an axis transverse the axis of rotation of said attaching means, means yieldingly urging said arms into engagement with a watch movement, means simultaneously locking said arms to each other and to said attaching means.

2. A watch movement holder comprising spaced supports, means adjustably attaching said supports to each other to vary the lateral spacing thereof, attaching means rotatably journaled in said supports, oppositely extending watch engaging arms, means mounting said Watch engaging arms on said attaching means for pivotal movement about an axis transverse the axis of rotation of said attaching means, means yieldingly urging said arms into engagement with a watch movement, means simultaneously locking said arms to each other and to said attaching means, means selectively locking said attaching means in predetermined angular positions.

3. A watch movement holder comprising spaced supports, means adjustably attaching said supports to each other to vary the lateral spacing thereof, attaching means rotatably journaled in said supports, oppositely extending watch engaging arms, means mounting said watch engaging arms on said attaching means for pivotal movement about an axis transverse the axis of rotation of said attaching means, means yieldingly urging said arms into engagement with a watch movement, means simultaneously locking said arms to each other and to said attaching means, means selectively locking said attaching means in predetermined angular positions, means guiding said supports for rectilinear movement relative to each other.

4. A watch movement holder comprising spaced supports, means adjustably attaching said supports to each other to vary the lateral spacing thereof, attaching means rotatably journaled in said supports, oppositely extending watch engaging arms, means mounting said watch engaging arms on said attaching means for pivotal movement about an axis transverse the axis of rotation of said attaching means, said arms including arcuate segments having an L-shaped cross section, means pivotally attaching and simultaneously locking said segments to each other and to said attaching means.

5. A watch movement holder comprising spaced supports, means adjustably attaching said supports to each other to vary the lateral spacing thereof, attaching means rotatably journaled in said supports, oppositely extending watch engaging arms, means mounting said watch engaging arms on said attaching means for pivotal movement about an axis transverse the axis of rotation of said attaching means, said arms including arcuate segments having an L-shaped cross section, means pivotally attaching and simultaneously locking said segments to each other and to said attaching means, means attached to said segments selectively looking a watch movement thereto.

6. A watch movement holder comprising spaced supports, means adjustably attaching said supports to each other to vary the lateral spacing thereof, attaching means rotatably journaled in said supports, oppositely extending watch engaging arms, means mounting said watch engaging arms on said attaching means for pivotal movement about an axis transverse the axis of rotation of said attaching means, said arms including arcuate segments having an L-shaped cross section, means pivotally attaching and simultaneously locking said segments to each other and to said attaching means, means attached to said segments selectively looking a watch movement thereto, said last mentioned means including a plurality of screw threaded projections attached to said segments, and watch engaging flanges on said projections.

CLARENCE D. ACREA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,155,632 Woodhead Oct. 5, 1915 1,435,595 Fegely et al Nov. 14, 1922 2,261,055 Dulaney Oct. 28, 1941 2,366,519 Greenberg Jan. 2, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 324,657 Great Britain Jan. 30, 1930 

